Magnetic recording devices such as hard disk drives utilize magnetic read and write transducers that are held close to the surface of a spinning magnetic disk. The write transducer generates a varying magnetic field that causes a change in magnetic orientation of bits within tracks on the disk. The read transducer follows the tracks and generates a signal based on variations in magnetic field, and these signals are used to read the bits. For both read and write transducers, a clearance between the transducer and disk may be actively adjusted to ensure optimum performance of the transducers.